Carnival Prize
by Exotos135
Summary: Would you do anything to see a kid smile? A toy squid and a desire to obtain it brings Lana and a particular teenager closer.


**Me? Uploading a story on April Fools day... That has no Luan or April Fools theme at all?! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MADNESS?! AND WHY FOCUS ON LANA AND CAROL OF ALL PEOPLE?!**

 **Simply put, I wrote this story because I legitimately wanted to try a different character combination than usual, and Carol Pingrey and Lana sound like a very "out-there" enough pairing. Besides, I headcanon that if these two ever met, they would become friends.**

 **As to why it has nothing to do with april fools... I completely forgot about the Holiday.**

 **Anyway, I'll shut up now, and if you want to see some other bizarre pairing for next weekend's fic, you can suggest them in your reviews! But seriously, review the actual story too. Anyhow, keep calm, and read on.**

* * *

It was a cheerful and energetic day at the city of Royal Woods, though of course, what else could you expect from a place housing the infamous Loud family? There was currently a carnival in the middle of the city, a carnival that the majority of the citizens gladly went to, either to have fun and relax for a day, or work there in order to provide the visitors such enjoyment.

Among the people who were working there was Carol Pingrey, who was manning a stand near the entrance. The way the stand worked was simple: hit the bullseye with the ball, and if you manage to hit it, you get a prize. A stuffed doll, some figurine, and that jazz.

For the most part, though, most of the people who went inside either ignored her stand, or considered it, but ultimately bailed out. That is, until two familiar girls appeared. Well, one familiar girl and her sister: Lori and Lana Loud, who immediately noticed the stand.

Carol smiled at the prospect of finally having someone try her stand, until Lori shot a glare at her direction and moved on. Luckily, Lana refused to move. In fact, she seemed mesmerized by the stand.

"Lori, look at that squid toy!" the kid plumber exclaimed before pointing at the left end of the stand, which showed a purple, simplistic squid toy. "I want it!"

"Lana, you already know that I don't like the one running the stand," Lori answered before shooting another glare at Carol. "Besides, these games of chance are usually rigged to make us waste tons of money!"

"What?! N-No, don't worry," Carol blurted, with a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "My game's totally fair, honest!"

"I don't know, something tells me I shouldn't trust that squeaky voice of yours," Lori growled, narrowing her eyes.

"Please, Lori, just let me give it a shot!" Lana pleaded.

Seeing the tomboy really wanted to try out the game, Lori rolled her eyes and handed Lana enough money to buy three baseballs to try the game. So the plumber took a ball, got to the counter and threw it blindly.

Unsurprisingly, the ball didn't even come close to the bullseye.

"Aw dang it!" Lana grabbed another ball. "Well, I still got two more chances."

Lana threw the ball blind once more. And again, it failed to even come close to hitting the bullseye.

Angered at her losing streak, Lana held the ball more tightly, actually bothered to aim, and then threw the ball as hard as she could. It hit the wall next to the bullseye, and bounced back and hit Lori's eye.

"Ouch, my eye!" the teenager exclaimed. "That's it, you're done with your balls, now let's go enjoy the rest of the carnival!"

"But I didn't win the toy squid!" Lana whined.

"You can try later!"

Lana tried to overpower Lori, but it was no use, the teenager's hold was just too strong. And so, Carol watched as Lana desperately tried anything for another chance at the game, while Lori effortlessly dragged her deeper into the carnival. From then on, Carol got some more visitors, but the image of the frustrated Lana wouldn't leave her head.

The girl needed another chance.

So, after waiting for a moment, she temporarily closed the stand and looked for the plumber kid. It took her a while, but she soon managed to find her sitting all alone, on a table near the food court. So she walked to her, and with a simple greeting of "hi!", she caught her attention.

"Oh, you're the stand lady," she remarked. "Lori's busy playing with her boyfriend."

The duo turned around and saw Lori encouraging Bobby as he tried to lift a hammer. "And she told me to wait for her here, so that's why I'm alone," Lana finished as Carol turned back to her, sympathetic to her displeasure. "Anyway, do you need something?"

Carol smiled and handed Lana a baseball. It wasn't long before she put 2 and 2 together, which brought a smile to her face.

"You're giving me another try?!"

The young lady nodded, "You do seem to really want that toy squid, so why not?"

Lana's smile grew wider, and a couple moments later, Lana and Carol were back at the stand, the latter waiting behind the counter while the former prepared her shot and aimed the ball at the bullseye, with extra care this time. And then, she charged up and threw the ball...

And it successfully hit the bullseye.

"Awesome! I did it!" Lana jumped up and down in the air with utmost excitement, while Carol took the toy squid and gave it to her. She hugged the toy, and soon told Carol, "Thanks for giving me another chance, stand lady!"

Then she realized something. "Oh wait, you have a name, don't you? What is it? Lori never told me..."

Carol looked to her left and right for any sign of Lori, and once she verified she wasn't coming, she answered, "I'm Carol Pingrey. Nice to meet you."

"Carol Pingrey, nice name!" she chirped. "Well, I have to go back to the table before Lori sees that I'm gone. Thanks again for giving me another chance!"

Then she gave her a wink. "And don't worry, I'll keep this between us."

Carol returned the wink and watched Lana eagerly went back to the table, giggling and hugging her squid toy. And the memory of the happy child stood with her for the rest of the day, giving her stand a pleased, satisfactory aura that brought her more visitors.

But in the end, Carol didn't mind if her stand got more visitors or not. She made someone happy, and that was good enough for her.


End file.
